Title: Vrakunský paleomeander a historická topografia mýtneho prechodu na Žitný ostrov
(The Palaeomeander at Vrakuňa, SW Slovakia and the historical Topography of the fording Point (Toll) on Žitný Ostrov Island) – PDF
Abstract: The Žitný ostrov Island (Hungarian: Csallóköz, German: Schüttinsel) located in SW Slovakia is separated from the main channel by the Malý Dunaj (Lesser or Little Danube), known as Čalov (Csalló) in the medieval period. The most important past fording point to the island in its upstream end was next to the village of Vrakuňa. This fording point was busy in medieval Bratislava County as early as in the 14th Century (potentially even back in the Roman period). It was also strategically important during military conflicts. In this study we have attempted to find out how a natural evolution of the river bend affected the existence and historical topography of this lucrative toll and ferry site over the 13th – 20th Century. For this, we have studied combined historical and cartographical sources and flood records to interpret them using ArcGIS and the recent knowledge of fluvial geomorphology. Besides, earlier geological data were supplemented by our core drill at the palaeomeander bottom. Several generations of shifting protective levees and anomaly of the cadastral borderline show the trajectory of meanders‘ retreating banks. Over the centuries, its evolution has gradually accelerated due to the Little Ice Age floods and, ultimately, the very morphometry of the bend. This resulted in the partial destruction of the village of Vrakuňa. Furthermore, lateral erosion clarifies why fortification structures in Vrakuňa and neighbouring Prievoz have failed to survive, notwithstanding their mention in 15th-Century charters and display on the respective villages‘ coat-of-arms. Meander was finally abandoned sometime between 1599 and 1646, possibly by an artificial cutoff. In the process, the position of toll and ferry shifted and the core of Vrakuňa with dwellings got on the right riverbank. The evolution of the local meander appears to be linked to the preceding formation of an avulsion channel called Barting (later Wartling channel = a southern branch of the Malý Dunaj situated next to Bratislava between the 17th and 20th centuries). In general, the meander evolution and its „climax“ stage were accelerated by high flows and major floods of the 16th Century (1560–1580), resulting in the temporary peaking discharge of the Malý Dunaj. Upon its abandonment, the meander loop became an oxbow lake with stagnant water (18th Century), used as a fishpond. However, it was quickly becoming shallower and infilled with flood loams. Transformation of the alluvial lake into a swampy depression was also associated with the changing regime of groundwaters, drying of the adjacent riverscape and land-use changes (floodplain forest → grazed wood → pasture → small-block private fields → large-block post-collectivisation fields). Before urbanisation, palaeomeander at Vrakuňa was a prominent fluvial landform, indicating a 17th Century bankfull width of 200 – 250 m, as shown by a digital terrain model. The last remnant of the palaeomeander represents a nature monument with potential for future research focusing on 1. refined dating of abandonment, 2. palaeoecological analyses, and 3. palaeohydrological reconstruction.
Authors: PIŠÚT, Peter – SZWARCZEWSZKI, Piotr – SMOLSKA, Ewa – RUSINKO, Adam
DOI: 10.17846/SHN.2024.28.2.545-591
Publication order reference:
Peter Pišút a Adam Rusinko – Univerzita Komenského, Prírodovedecká fakulta, Katedra fyzickej geografie a geoinformatiky, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Mlynská dolina, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, mail: peter.pisut@uniba.sk; adam.rusinko@uniba.sk
Ewa Smolska a Piotr Szwarczewski – Varšavská univerzita, Katedra geografii Fizycznej, Oddelenie geografie a regionálnych štúdií, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Varšava, Republic of Poland, mail: e.smolska@uw.edu.pl ; pfszwarc@uw.edu.pl
Source: Studia Historica Nitriensia, year: 2024, vol.: 28, number: 2, pages: 545-591
Key words: Toll; Lesser Danube, Vrakuňa; Palaeomeander; Reconstruction; Little Ice Age
Language: SLOVAK
Funding: VEGA 1/0245/23, UK č. UK/176/2023